Improvement in apparatus for dry-separating precious metals from their ores



Sheets-Sheet 1. P. PLANT.

Separating Precious Metals Patented May 13, I879.

fqzsbkal P an/i By his fltlurneys N. FETERS. PNOTOJ-ITHOGRAPHER,WASHINGTON. D. C.

6 Sheets-sheet 2. -P. PLANT..

Apparatus for Dry Separating Precious Metals from. their Ores. No.215,292. Patented May 13, I879.

% l cum/ad f aunt.

By his flttorneys N4 PEYERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRA iIER, WASHINGTON D C P.PLANT. 6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

Apparatus for Dry Separating Precious Metals from their. Ores. No.215,292 Patented M ay13,1879.

m NFEI'EHS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. D. C

6 Sheets-Sheet 4; P. P L A N T.

Apparatus for DrySeparating Precious Metals from their Ores.

N0. 215,292. Patented May 13, 1879.

N- PETERS, PNOTO-UTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D. C.

6 Sheets-Sheet 5.

I P. PLANT. Apparatus for Dry Separating Precious Metals from theirOres.

Patented May 13, 1879.

WITNESSES a k a; 24 6M.

By his flttornez .s'

HER, WASHINGTON D C- PETERS. PHO

6 Sheets-Sheet 6.

P. PLANT. Apparatus for Dry Separating Precious Metals from their Ores.No. 215,292.

Patented May 13, 1879.

WITNESSES %Z1 6;

By his fltfnmel a I MFEIERS PNOTO-LITHOGRAP. ER, WASHINGTON. D c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PASOHAL PLANT, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR DRY-SEPARATl NG PRECIOUS METALS FROM THEIRORES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.

215,292, dated May 13, 1879; application filed January 30, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PASCHAL -PLANT, of Washington, in the District ofColumbia, have invented an Improved Apparatus for Dry- SeparatingPrecious Metals f om their Ores, of which the following is aspecification.

The principle of my apparatus is, in general,

the same as that for which I filed my application for Letters Patent ofthe United States January 24., -l879 that is to say, I depositpulverized ore, ground quartz, or auriferous sand in thin layers inshallow receptacles or separators provided with sharp-edged partitions,and then agitate these substances there by rapid tremulous vibrations,and cause them to be delivered over the edged partitions, thus effectingthe separation of the precious metal from the earthy matter, and thefinal delivery over of the latter upon waste-plates beneath, whichconduct it out of the way.

The object of this apparatus is to improve upon the mechanism disclosedin the aforesaid application, whereby I may, with greater simplicity andeconomy, secure the treatment of the ore in a vast number of separatorssimultaneously, and thus obtain a very great working capacity, so that agreat'number of cubic yards of ore may beoperated upon daily.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan or top view withportions broken away to show more clearly the parts lying beneath them.Fig.2 is an end elevation. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section onthe line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverseseotion on theline 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a plan View of the separator-framedetached, showing the distributing plates, one of which is partly brokenaway, and the separators proper lying beneath them. Fig. 6 is a sideelevation of one of the agitating-cams. Fig. 7 is a section of the sameon the line 7 7 of Fig. 6. Fig.8 is a similar section of the other cam.Fig. 9 shows a modified form of the separator plate. Fig. 10 shows amodification in the way of arranging the separator-plates, so as toadmit of using two tiers of them instead of one.

Referring to the letters on the drawings in aid of a description indetail of my apparatus, A indicates the main frame, having mounted uponit in suitable bearings a driving-shaft, B,

and main driving-wheel O. This wheel gears into a pinion, D, fixed on acamshaft, E, also supported in bearings in the main frame. The cams F F,fixed on the camshaft, are each composed of two parts, the first being adisk,

. f, of unequal thickness, its surfaces being on difierent planes, suchas if the disk were formed by cutting off a section of a solid cylinderat an angle other than a right angle with its axis, and the second beinga flat annular disk or ring, f secured adjustably on the inner inclinedface of the first by means of a lug or pin or any equivalent fasteningon one side and set-screws on the other side, so as to render the ringadjustable, whereby the stroke or push of the. com can be increased'ordiminished at will.

The inner inclined surfaces of both of the cams thus formed bear againstfriction-wheels G, projecting sufficiently from the opposite sides ofthe agitator-frame H It is obvious that if the parts f of the camswerealways to remain rigidly fixed to the cam-shaft, and at the samedistances apart as when first set, it would be impossible to effecttheir adjustment to increase or diminish their push materially, becausethe inner surfaces of the rings f, being, whether in motion or at rest,constantly in contact with the friction- Wheels, there would be no roomfor adj ustment so as to do more than increase or diminish the force ofpressure upon the friction- Wheels at different points in the revolutionof the cams; therefore I have provided that one of the cams F may beshifted in its position on the shaft by means of nuts f to give room forthe adjustment of the rings f by means of the set-screws, as abovestated.

The agitator-frame is mounted on casterwheels I, which rest on a smoothmetallic plate on the main frame, and have the outer ends of their axlesin guide-slots 7c of brackets or journal-boxes K. This frame has securedto its upper side an open-bottomed inclosure or receptacle, L,surrounding the separator plates M, which rest on the frame, and aremaintained in position apart from one another by suitable lugs N. Theseplates are inclined or rather stepped from their centers outward totheir opposite sides, their upper surfaces forming the bottoms of orereceptacles or sep arators 0, which are formed by the edged partitions Pand the inclined or curvilinear-sided partitions Q, and are on differentlevels. In the center of each separator-plate or nest ofoppositely-stepped separators is a vertical partition plate, R. Abovethe separators, centrally over the division-space between them, andsupported by the sides of the inclosure L, are double distributingcap-plates S, provided with a central partition, S, and with slots T intheir bottoms, which slots are directly over the partition-plates It, sothat as the ore falls from the hopper through these slots it will bedivided, one-half of it falling upon one side of the partition 1%, andthe other upon the other. Resting upon the receptacle L is a lightframe, T, with double inclined bottom, provided with sieves U andperforated plates V. The perforations in these plates are directly overthe partition S, so that as the ore falls it will be divided by thepartition. The frame T also has between the sieves a disintegrator, WV,consisting of a great number of teeth inclosed on each side byvertically-adj ustable plates X, to be set in position so as to leaveside openings, X, for the passage of the dis integrating-ore byset-screws :20. Resting on the frame T, immediately over thedisintegrator, is the feed-hopper Y, provided with an inclined sieve inits bottom coarser than those just referred to and a spout at one end.

Besides being able to increase or diminish the push of the cams, andconsequently the length of the reciprocations or vibrations effectedthereby, as above set forth, it is important to state that theadjustment by the set-screws, even without the alteration of theposition ofthe cam F by means of the nutsf will have some appreciableeffect upon the regularity of the' strokes or impulses given by the camsby making the contact of one side more forcible or giving it greaterpressure through the setscrews than the other, and the effect of this isto regulate andmaintain the ore upon a level.

in the separators, where it sometimes exhibits a tendency to flow to oneside or the other un, der agitation, and render the layers uneven indepth in the separators, and hence the neces-,

sity of some provision of this kind.

thicker the layers the greater should be the vibrations, but as theoperation of separating isexceedingly delicate, and the variations as todepth of layers exceedingly limited for success-,

ful working, it requires experience in the operator to secure the exactadjustments, and it is impossible to state them in a way to suit allcases.

From the foregoing description of the construction and relations of theparts of my apparatus, it will be understood that when motion iscommunicated to the main driving shaft and wheel the cams workingagainst the frictionwheels of the agitator-frame will cause it and thesuperposed parts it bears to be vibrated or agitated rapidly with atremulous motion that can be varied by adjusting the nuts f and theset-screws of the cams.

It will also be understood that, as the fine ore, during the operationof the machine, is continually supplied into the hopper, it will bedelivered through the hoppersieve at the bottom to the disintegrator,except such portions as may be too coarse, which will pass away throughthe hopper-spout. The disintegrator will still further pulverize theore, and it will pass out under the plates X onto the sieves U andthrough them to the perforated plates V, except such parts as are toocoarse, which will pass over the inclined bottom of the frame T to theground. From the perforated plates V the ore will fall on either side ofthe partitions S onto the distributing'plates having slots in theirbottoms, and thence, being divided by the plates R, onto the centers ofeach two ad jacent nests of separators. The separation, under agitation,will begin in the inner separator of each nest, and the ore will passfrom that to the next lower separator, and so on to the last, when theseparation will be completely effected, and the earthy matter will flowover through the opening between the separator-plates down onto theinclined wasteplate Z.

It is obvious that the separator-frame may be as extended asdesired-that is to say, the nest of separators may be extendedlongitudinally, being divided by a great number of inclined-sidedpartitions, and they maybe increased in number and provided withfeedhoppers indefinitely, one agitating-frame, main frame, and set ofagitating mechanism serving for the whole.

It is possible also to arrange one series of separator-plates andseparators below another, as indicated in Fig. 10, where, as in Fig. 9,only one separator is shown on each side of the centraldividing-partition It. In this modification, Fig. 10, the upper seriesof separators must be so constructed, as illustrated, that the ore maybe fed through suitable apertures l 2 to the lower series of separators.This is only an illustration showing an arrangement of the l parts bywhich increased working capacity can Thelen gth of the vibrations fortremulous agitation bears an important relation to the depth of thelayers of ore in the separators, as thelj readily be obtained withoutdeparting from the substance of my invention.

Having now described my invention, what 1 claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

l. The combination, with the agitatingframe, of the adjustable compositecams F F and the nuts f whereby the distance between the cams may bechanged, to give greater range of adjustment of the parts f,substantially as set forth.

2. The double-stepped separator-plate provided with central ore-dividingpartition R and with shallow ore-separating recesses, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination, with the double-stepped separator-plates havingore-dividing partitions It, and arranged in pairs withdeliverycap-plates, with their central partitions, and the frame T, withits perforated plates, sieves, disintegrator, and hopper, whereby theore is delivered to the nests of separators, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

PASGHAL PLANT.

Witnesses D. DAVIDSON, G. H. MAYNADIER.

